What Could Be
by The Essential Word
Summary: Cecilia marries Jake, leaving Kyle lonely and bitter. Most of all, Kyle ponders what could have been if only Cecilia had loved him.


What Could Be

Enjoy, Review and Read, please! I have no way of knowing how I did without feedback.

It was early winter. A wedding was taking place at the church. The scene was ideal. The morning was neither too cold nor hot, people were smiling and there was plenty of food on the buffet. As anyone will say, food is the most important part of any social gathering. If the food isn't just right, it leaves a horrible gloom over the whole occasion.

For once Kyle wasn't hungry. All he could think about was the bride. She was standing there at the altar, looking nervous. She waited for all of the guests to file into the room and sit so the whole thing could begin.

Oh, she was beautiful. Her hair was let loose around her shoulders and covered by a thin veil. There was color on her cheeks that he never saw before. Her smile was radiant.

She had never looked this beautiful for him, and she would never look this beautiful again. Today she was reserved for one man and that man wasn't him.

God damn you Jake, he thought bitterly. God damn you…

He didn't doubt they'd be happy together. Eventually she would have his children. In her new-found motherhood, she would become ever more radiant. Her love for her husband would grow so much that she would completely and utterly forget Kyle.

Kyle would become a mere acquaintance she saw every once in a while. He would be that lonely man who farmed from dawn until dusk with no desire for human interaction. He would be the man who constantly brooded over something he lost long ago. He could see it now; he would throw himself into his work, take care of his monsters and crops and all the while she raised her children, completely content with her lot in life. She would remember her history with Kyle only in passing. As time would go on, she would think of Kyle less. Instead her thoughts would be filled with her marital bliss.

Before the wedding, he had imagined her abandoning Jake and running off with him. Yet now that he saw how lovingly and deep she looked at Jake, he realized he would never have her. She would always be a far-off dream, a reminder of what could have been.

It could have been him up there by that altar, nervous yet giddy with glee. It could have been him with years of happiness ahead of him. Years of happiness with her, that beautiful woman with the angelic smile.

When the groom placed a kiss on her forehead and she giggled, Kyle squirmed in the pew. He looked towards the exit, imagining himself running away to a place where there was no Jake or Ceci or weddings. It would be a place where he didn't have to watch someone else have what he so desperately wanted.

He closed his eyes and listened as the vows were exchanged.

Before he knew it, the whole thing was done. Finished. Final.

There was nothing else to do but get in line forming of people waiting to congratulate the happy couple. He let everyone else ahead of him. He wasn't in a hurry to face those two.

Eventually there was nobody left but him, Ceci and Jake. An awkward silence ensued as Kyle stared at Cecilia.

Jake glared. "Well, human?"

"Don't be so harsh," she whispered gently. She looked up at Kyle, her beautiful eyes soft. "What is it, Kyle?"

Suddenly Kyle felt both madly in love and desperate. His stomach curled, his head felt heavy. He couldn't think of anything but taking her away.

_I love you. I love you. I want you to marry me, Ceci. I want you to love me. I want you to have my children. I want you to live in my home with me._

The words were stuck in his throat. He had a sheepish, nervous look on his face. "I can't lie about my feelings. I love you, Ceci. Come with me! …Please." The images of running out of the church to freedom, away from this damn wedding were swirling in his mind.

Her mouth hung open, her eyes wide.

_Say you love me. Say it! _The thoughts ran incessantly through his mind.

She composed herself. "I had faith that one day you'd say that to me."

Kyle inhaled. She was going to accept him!

"I knew you would tell me that, one day. I've always known." She had a wistful expression that disappeared as she continued speaking. "But that's over. I'm sorry."

"B-but, Ceci!"

"I'm sorry." She looked away. "What did you expect? That I would abandon all of this and leave with you? Kyle, it's over and I'm so, so sorry."

Jake's glare was murderous. He clenched his hands. "The only reason I haven't already knocked you out is because of Ceci. Get out of here."

Without a word, he turned around and left. He left the two behind to their years of bliss.

He would say nothing. He would do nothing but quietly love her. From afar, he would watch and know that it could have been him.

There was nothing sadder in the world than love unrequited.

X

_A year passed…_

"Kyle, Kyle!" She cried.

He stopped watering the crops and watched as she ran to him through the field. She held something close to her chest.

"I wanted you to meet him!" She said brightly. She giggled excitedly and held the bundle out. It was a cooing little baby.

"Wow. I didn't even notice that you weren't pregnant anymore," Kyle said. "I haven't really seen you in a while…"

"Look at him! Doesn't he look like his daddy?" She tweaked the baby's nose. It cooed happily.

"Er, I really think he looks more like you…"

"Don't be silly. He looks like both me and Jake. Oh, he's so adorable."

_Both you and Jake. _Kyle strained to smile. "He's a…cute kid. I'm glad you're letting me see him."

"You're welcome. Jake said I could show everyone our little baby. Jake won't say it, of course, and he tries not to show it, but I can tell he's so happy about all this. I understand why people say Jake's dour. He really is sometimes…but when he's happy! There's nothing in the world that looks better to me than to see him smile."

Listening to her, he felt numb. He knew what the feeling was like; the feeling of wanting nothing more than to see the person you love smile. Watching her chatter on, smiling as she was, he couldn't help but feel happy with her. It was a happiness tinged with sadness, but it was happiness all the same. He smiled at her sadly.

"Why don't you hold him?" she said.

"Me? I don't think so. I know next to nothing about kids."

"That's all right. I just learned myself. Please, Kyle?"

With a sigh, Kyle took the infant with his shaking hands. He held the child awkwardly. Ceci adjusted his arms until the baby was secure.

She stepped back and clapped, obviously pleased with how easily the child took to Kyle. "He likes you. I can tell."

"Really? You can tell this stuff? Can you read the kid's mind or something?"

"Mother's intuition," she said simply.

As she reached to take the baby back, Kyle couldn't help but tell how close she was, how she was less than a foot from him.

Here he was holding a baby; a baby that had come from her. There she was, looking at him and smiling joyfully. It was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen on her. Motherhood suited her.

It was like a family. A family made up of her, him and this little baby.

A family.

She stepped away with the baby in her arms. With her standing so far away, he felt as if a part of him had been severed.

"I'll come back tomorrow to see you. Is that all right?" she said.

"It's always all right. You're the only person I ever want to see anyway."

She laughed. "That's sweet."

Then she turned her back to leave.

"W-will you always come back?" Kyle said, his voice shaking. He never wanted her to leave. He wanted her to stay rooted with him in that field forever. He wanted so much…he wanted so many things…

She turned back around to Kyle. "I will."

"Always?" he asked tentatively.

"Every day."

"Really?"

"Even if there's a horrible storm or the ground opens up under my feet, I will find a way to get here."

He smiled. "You're a wonderful, wonderful person. Did I ever tell you that?"

"O you! You're making me blush."

The baby started crying. "Well, I better get home," she said, adjusting the blanket she had around the infant. "I can't keep Jake waiting."

As he watched her leave, he knew he had just seen the face of a supremely happy woman.

He finished toiling in the fields. For the rest of the day he tried to think of nothing, for every time he did think his thoughts drifted to her. That night he waited anxiously for the next day.

The day Ceci would come back to him. And the next day…and the next.

She would always, always return.

X

I don't know if anyone noticed at all, but part of the dialogue Cecilia and Kyle say during the wedding came straight from what Kyle actually says to Cecilia in game. For those who aren't aware, you can see your rival's wedding. You have the choice of stealing the bride away or not. If you choose to do so, then the bride pretty much says "Of course I'll crush my fiancée's heart and run away with you!" She doesn't even think about it. This story was a bit of "what if" on my part. What if the bride wasn't about to blindly go away with Kyle? What if she really loved the rival enough to stay? I hope you found some enjoyment in it.


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